Mortal Ties

by Eileen Wilks

  furo: also called “the fury.” Battle fury or madness. Clanless lupi are especially subject to it, but it can happen to those within a clan, though it’s rare.

  gens amplexi: literally, “clan embrace”; ceremony of adoption into clan. From gens (clan, tribe, people) + amplexor (embrace, welcome, love).

  gens compleo: literally, “clan to fill up or complete”; the ceremony in which a young lupus (at age twenty-four) is confirmed as an adult clan member.

  gens subicio: subicio means “to put under or expose; to subject; to place near or present.” When one Rho dies and a new one assumes the mantles, a gens subicio is held at which each member of a clan presents himself to his new Rho and ritually submits.

  Lu Nuncio: normally, a Rho’s acknowledged heir; also acts as enforcer/prosecutor/second-in-command as needed. (Note: Leidolf has separated the heir from the Lu Nuncio.) Nuncio is from nuncupo—“to name or pronounce solemnly.” Derivation of lu unknown, but may be short form of lupi.

  nadia: mate (fem.); from nodus -i (masc.)—a knot; a girdle; any tie, bond, connection, obligation; also a knotty point or difficulty.

  ospi: out-clan friend or friend of the clan; from hospes (host, guest—friend, stranger).

  pernato: a lupus who didn’t have a lupus father. A pernato is lupi because of recessives in both parents’ genes. (Also called throwbacks or lost ones, if one occurs that the lupi weren’t tracking. Term first mentioned in Blood Challenge.)

  Rhej: the title of a clan’s bard/historian/priestess. Also predates Latin.

  Rho: the ruler/leader of a lupus clan. Derivation unknown; legend says it predates Latin.

  seco: part of “to call seco”—to call the ceremony that removes a lupus from his clan.

  surdo: an unflattering name for humans (masc.). From surdus (deaf, unwilling to hear, insensible).

  t’eius ven: the intimate or informal form of v’eius ven.

  terra tradis: the private area where a clan’s male youngsters go before their First Change and live until they learn control. Tradis is a bastardized form of trado (to bequeath, to teach), so it means “the teaching ground.”

  thranga: a form of war in which the clans unite under a single battle leader against a common enemy; traditionally it requires the Lady’s summons, but the nature of that summons may be disputed. Predates Latin.

  v’eius ven: probably derived from a phrase meaning “go in her [the Lady’s] grace,” though some sources suggest ven may be from venor (hunt) rather than venia (grace), or even from vena (blood vessel or penis). This form is largely ceremonial.

  vesceris corpi: a major insult—translates literally as “eater of corpses” and implies taking a certain carnal pleasure in the act.

  Lupi: the Clans

  There are currently twenty-four clans; ten of them are considered dominant. Four of the ten dominants are in the United States; two are in Canada; one is in Africa; one is in Great Britain; one is in Sweden; one is in the Italian Alps; and one is in eastern Europe.

  A dominant clan possesses an especially strong mantle. Occasionally a dominant clan will accept temporary subordinate status to another clan, as Kyffin did with Nokolai in Book 1; it’s still considered dominant because the mantle is unaffected. A clan loses dominant status—and may lose its mantle and identity—when it loses a Clan Challenge. Clan Challenges are rare and can mean outright war, but fundamentally they are a contest between the clans’ mantles and may be settled by individual combat between the two Rhos. All but two of the nondominant clans are subordinated to one of the dominants. Nondominant clans are small, since the size of the clan has an effect on the strength of its mantle, and vice versa. Etorri is the exception. It’s very small, yet its mantle is extremely powerful.

  The most powerful clans currently are Nokolai and Leidolf, closely followed by Ybirra. Etorri wields great influence based on its du, but it lacks direct power because of its small size.

  Below are the ten dominant clans:

  United States

  Nokolai: Rule’s clan. Rho: Isen Turner. Rhej: Hannah. Originally from the Brittany region of France. Nokolai is the fourth largest clan (Leidolf, Ybirra, and Mondoyo are larger) and has the most subordinate clans—four, with two in the United States (Laban and Vochi)—and is the most wealthy. Clanhome is in southern California.

  Leidolf: A numerous clan, traditional enemies of Nokolai, implicated in the attack on Rule’s father [Books 1, 2, 3]. Randall Frey is the Lu Nuncio (heir) in the first two books, but is killed in Book 3. The Rho in Books 1–5 is Victor Frey. Victor’s other son is Brady Gunning, a sociopath: “tall, blond, and bony; nice chest.” Their Rhej is Ella—African American, tall, broad frame, Baptist. Leidolf currently has no subordinate clans.

  After Book 3: Randall Frey is dead; Rule is Leidolf heir; Alex Thibodeaux (grizzled, just under six feet, built like a pro wrestler, with skin the color of burnt toast) is Lu Nuncio for the clan; and their Rho (Victor Frey) is in a coma and dying. He dies in Book 5 (Mortal Sins).

  Szós: Hungarian clan that immigrated to the United States; Rikard Demeny is Lu Nuncio in Book 2. After that, Lu Nuncio is Lucas, third-born son of Rho Andor Demeny. Fierce fighters. One subordinate clan (Czech; didn’t immigrate).

  Ybirra: Large Spanish clan; the newest clan, founded in 1882 by Tomás Ybirra. Javiero Mendozo is Lu Nuncio; Manuel Mendoza is Rho. Clanhome in New Mexico. One subordinate clan four years before the opening of the series.

  Wythe: A midsized clan with a Clanhome in northern New York; the last clan to immigrate to the United States. Originally from England. Lu Nuncio is Brian Whitman, younger brother of the Rho Edgar Whitman. Both Edgar and Brian die in Book 8.

  Canada

  Etorri: A tiny clan with great du (honor, face, magic, history); Stephen Andros is Lu Nuncio. Previous Rho was William Carr; current one is Frederick Andros. Follows different rules for succession and does not accept subordinate clans. Clanhome is in eastern Canada. Etorri is said to be Greek, though the identity of its founder is one of many secrets kept by the clan. Etorri is a puzzle to the other clans.

  Kyffin: The smallest dominant other than Etorri, based in western Canada; Jasper Herron, the Rho, is unusually young (forty) and a friend of Rule’s. Subordinate to Nokolai for a year and a day, starting in middle of Book 1. The Lu Nuncio is Jasper’s uncle, Myron, as Jasper’s son is too young. Kyffin’s influence is due largely to their friendly relations with pretty much every other clan.

  Europe

  Ansgar: Scandinavian; Clanhome in Sweden. Ben Larson is Lu Nuncio. Not a large clan, but three very small clans are subordinate to Ansgar, increasing its voice.

  Cynyr: A Celtic clan; most live in Ireland and Scotland, some in Wales. Lu Nuncio: Connolly (Con) McGuire. One subordinate (English) clan.

  Africa

  Mondoyo: The only African clan, started by a small group of lupi who went to northern Africa after the Great War. Out of communication with other clans until eighteenth century and have different customs. Lu Nuncio is Ato Tsegaye.

  Subordinate Clans

  Laban: One of Nokolai’s subordinates; their small clanhome is near San Francisco. Their mantle is unusually strong for a subordinate clan, but they do not do well without a dominant. They like to fight too much.

  Vochi: Nokolai’s other subordinate clan in the United States, they are known for their financial acumen. Vochi births few fighters.

  Read on for a special look at

  Eileen Wilks’s next Lupi novel

  RITUAL MAGIC

  Coming in 2013 from Berkley Sensation!

  SHE blinked and swayed, so dizzy she had to reach for the wall to prop herself up. Could you pass out without falling down? That’s what it felt like—like she’d blacked out. Which she’d never done, not in her whole life, and all of a sudden she was Sleeping Beauty and years and years had passed. Except she was still on her feet, so obviously years hadn’t passed. The ladies’ room was right behind her. She was still in the narrow little hallway of…

  Of
where?

  Fear struck, quick and hot and dark, flapping its wings in her throat like a trapped bird. Where was she?

  She didn’t know. She didn’t have any idea. She’d been…what? She couldn’t remember. She remembered going to bed last night but not to sleep, not right away. She always had trouble falling asleep the night before her birthday. She’d sat up past bedtime—a sin overlooked on special nights—writing in her diary, with the light from her lamp warm and yellow on the lined pages and her lavender bedspread pulled up to her waist. She’d told her diary what she couldn’t tell anyone, not even Debbie, and for sure not her sisters. Everyone was so “I can’t wait” about being a teenager, but she’d been glad tomorrow’s birthday was twelve, not thirteen. She wasn’t ready for thirteen, but that was okay because she had a whole year of being twelve ahead of her. That gave her lots of time.

  But that was all she remembered. She didn’t remember waking up or eating breakfast or lunch or supper. Was it suppertime? Had they come here instead of going to the roller rink like they were supposed to?

  Had she somehow missed her whole birthday?

  A burst of indignation burned through some of the fear. That wasn’t fair. That wasn’t fair at all, and she didn’t understand, but here she was in some kind of restaurant. The air was thick with good smells—ginger and onions and fryer fat—and she could see a smidge of the room the hall led to. A man sat at a small, cloth-draped table, leaning forward and stabbing his finger at the air the way men did when they thought they were important and people should listen. The woman with him looked bored. They were both Caucasian, but this was a Chinese restaurant. She could tell from the smells and the crimson walls. Out of sight from her vantage point, someone was laughing a quick, barking sort of laugh: HA! HA! HA! Which made her think of Uncle Wu, who laughed in syllables like that, only quieter, huffing it out: Ha. Ha. Ha.

  She was breathing really fast. Huffing like Uncle Wu. She clenched her fists and tried to make herself breathe normal. She needed something to be normal.

  She felt tired. Tired and kind of heavy, the way she did when she had a cold. She sniffed experimentally. She wasn’t stuffed up or anything. Had she been sick? Maybe she’d had a real high fever. A brain fever. Could brain fevers make you forget stuff? Maybe she’d had a terrible brain fever and got over it, but just now she’d had a relapse—that’s why she’d been so dizzy—and—

  “Excuse us, please,” someone said behind her.

  She whirled.

  Two women had come out of the restroom. They were kind of old—maybe thirty—and they were dressed funny. Both wore jeans, which was weird. Who wore jeans to a nice restaurant? One had on a big, sloppy sweater, but the other one wore a tight, stretchy shirt that showed everything, like she was a hooker or something. That woman had great big earrings and super-short hair like Mia Farrow and…good grief. She had a little gem in her nose, like it was pierced there.

  Her mother wouldn’t let her pierce her ears, and this woman had pierced her nose!

  The two women were looking at her funny. She flushed. She was standing around like an idiot, blocking the hall. She stepped aside. As she did, her foot bumped something. She glanced down.

  Someone had left her purse right there in the hall. It was a nice purse, too—black leather, the kind that’s so soft you want to pet it. She should tell someone.

  She’d taken one uncertain step when someone else came into the hall. A man. He was tall and probably as old as the two women, and he was gorgeous. He looked like a movie star—kind of like Clint Eastwood, in fact, who was still her favorite, and she hated that Rawhide had gone off the air. Only this man’s hair was all dark and shaggy and he had really dramatic eyebrows that weren’t like Clint’s at all.

  The man looked right at her and tipped his head like he was puzzled. She felt a little flutter in her stomach. Then he spoke to her.

  “Julia? Are you okay?”

  LILY pushed the remains of her Kung Pao chicken around on her plate and tried to look like she was paying attention to her cousin Freddie, who was excited about implied rates and parity and agio. What the hell was agio? Was that even a word?

  She didn’t ask. He’d tell her, and God knew how long that would take. It was some kind of broker-speak, though. Probably currency trading, which was his specialty. That was a large part of what he did for Rule these days. Rule’s second clan wasn’t affluent the way Nokolai was.

  “…not convinced the baht is on the rise, but…” Freddie broke off and chuckled. “Your eyes have glazed over.”

  “Sorry.” She and Freddie got along better now that he’d stopped asking her to marry him. She’d even forgiven him for doing so repeatedly without mentioning that he was gay. Turned out he’d been in major denial about that and had only come out of the closet with himself in the past year. He still wasn’t ready for the family to know…by which he meant his mother.

  Lily could understand that. Aunt Jei—who was technically Lily’s second cousin, but Lily and her sisters called all their mother’s first cousins “aunt” or “uncle”—put the passive in passive-aggressive. She was limp, needy, and full of sighs, a widow with only one child who she doted on, clung to, and controlled ruthlessly.

  Poor Freddie.

  Aunt Jei was probably the reason Rule had excused himself to go to the restroom. He’d been seated next to her and even Rule could only take so much.

  “That’s all right,” Freddie said kindly, and patted her hand. “You’re probably daydreaming about the big day. Only two weeks away now, isn’t it?” He beamed at her.

  “Two weeks and one day.” After which, she thought with a smile, Rule would be officially related to Aunt Jei, Freddie, and everyone else at this table. Poor man.

  They were in the larger of the two private dining rooms at the Golden Dragon, where they held most such celebrations, since it was owned by Uncle Chen—another “uncle” who was really a cousin. The party was smaller than usual this year. None of the children were here, and Grandmother’s companion, Li Qin, had broken her foot two days ago. While she could get around on crutches, she was still in pain, so Grandmother had insisted she stay home. Also, Lily’s younger sister wasn’t here, though for a very different reason.

  “I attended the wedding of a colleague’s daughter recently,” Freddie was saying. “Beautiful girl. It was a very modern sort of ceremony. They wrote their own vows, and when it was time for toasts…”

  Lily nodded and let her mind drift. Her mother had told them firmly they were not to make a fuss: “With your wedding so close, it’s too much to ask. Everyone is very busy.” Lily’s father had wisely ignored her protests. Julia Yu loved being fussed over on her birthday.

  That fuss had damn well better include presents, too. Lily’s gaze slid to the table behind Freddie. The table held over a dozen gaily wrapped packages. She grinned. Freddie took her grin as tribute to his story about the groom’s toast and chuckled and launched into a tale about someone else she’d never met.

  Every year Julia Yu insisted she didn’t need a thing, not a thing, but they knew better. She adored presents—the bright paper and bows, the whole unwrapping ritual. Lily would miss it if they ever did skip the gifts. Her mother might be picky and perfectionistic about all sorts of things, but presents were different. Her eyes lit with delight. She exclaimed with pleasure over everything, no matter how odd or humble, and held it up for everyone to admire.

  “So what did you get Mother?” she asked when Freddie paused.

  “Why, I got her a gift.”

  That meant he was dying to tell, but she was supposed to coax him. She glanced at her watch. Eight forty. “Guess I’ll find out soon. She’ll be finished primping any—”

  The first scream was loud and piercing and terrified. So were the ones that followed. Lily was on her feet and moving before the others got their dropped jaws working. She’d grabbed her purse. She wasn’t wearing either shoulder or ankle holster, but she didn’t go anywhere unarmed, not these da
ys. By the time she slammed through the door, she’d pulled her Glock from her purse.

  Barnaby and Joe were on their feet, faced out. “Hold your positions,” she snapped. The other two guards, Scott and Mark, were already on the other side of the dining room and moving as fast as only lupi can. They turned into the hall that led to the restrooms. Lily followed at a quick jog, veering around startled diners and a couple servers. The screaming stopped abruptly when she was halfway across.

  Scott reappeared at the entrance to the hall and smiled at everyone. Scott cultivated the geek look. He wore glasses he didn’t need and clothes a bit too large that turned his wiry frame skinny. If you didn’t notice how well he moved, you’d think he never did anything more strenuous than tote a laptop. “I think she saw a mouse or something.”

  There were a couple of nervous laughs. Someone said, “Must have been a really big mouse.” More laughter as the roomful of people began to relax.

  Rule was in that hall. The mate sense told Lily that as clearly as if she could see through the wall. Had some woman with a phobia about lupi seen him and freaked? Could be. His face was well-known. Whatever kind of trouble had triggered the screaming, though, she probably wouldn’t need her weapon. Scott had his back to it. He wouldn’t do that if something needed shooting.

  Still, she kept her Glock in her hand, but down at her side. Scott gave her a odd look, but stepped aside without speaking. As soon as he did, she stopped dead.

  Mark stood a couple feet into the hall. He hadn’t drawn his weapon, and he barely glanced at her. A few feet beyond him, Rule stood with his arms around Lily’s mother. She was sobbing. Her hands gripped his arms. He was stroking her back and murmuring something. He looked up from his soothing to meet Lily’s eyes. He looked baffled.

  “Mother?” Lily said, stepping forward cautiously. She’d never seen her mother come apart like this. Never. To do so in public…“What’s wrong? Are you hurt?”

  Julia Yu lifted her head from Rule’s shoulder. Mascara streaked her face in long black runnels. “I’m old! I’m so old!”